ARTICLES

How to Avoid Sticky Fingers

A Solution to Parish Collection Theft

BY STEPHEN FRANKINI

What is the purpose of the parish finance council?

Looking into this question, I discovered that dioceses differ as to whether or not finance councils exist for the purpose of accountability or even as to whether or not they have access to actual expenditures. All finance councils have the duty of drawing up a budget. According to canon law, it is up to the diocesan bishop to draw up guidelines for the council. Many dioceses throughout the country post their guidelines online.

How much financial accountability is warranted? Is financial disclosure asking for too much? The diocese of Fresno refused to answer that question. Interestingly, I learned that some Protestant churches see financial disclosure as indispensable to gaining the trust of church members. Such churches might belong to the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (www.ecfa.org/ContentEngine.aspx?Page=Main), an organization that develops and maintains standards of accountability, with the objective (at least in part) of preventing embezzlements and making sure that non-profit funds are used, as required by law, solely to further the cause of the non-profit. Two of the Evangelical Council's main standards are that the church must be audited annually by an independent CPA and that the resulting financial statement, including all the details, must be provided upon written request.

But financial disclosure by itself is inadequate, according to Michael Ryan, a retired federal law enforcement official experienced in the conduct of financial audits and security investigations. Ryan believes that the Sunday collection is far more vulnerable to repetitive theft before it is deposited than after. Ryan has developed a set of collection security guidelines for securing the collection, which he has posted on his website, www.churchsecurity.info.

According to Ryan's website, one of the advantages of securing the collection is the elimination of the temptation to sin, as well as the protection of innocent priests and parish employees and volunteers from unwarranted suspicion.

Ryan believes there must be a standardized protocol that would apply to all churches for the handling of Sunday collection funds between collection basket and bank deposit and at all points in between. He also believes the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops either has or can easily obtain authority to establish such a protocol. Ryan cites canon 455, which provides that a bishops conference may seek authorization from the Holy See to issue a general decree which, if granted, may be imposed following approval by two-thirds of the conference members.

But based upon his 15 years of interaction with the hierarchy, Ryan is convinced they are adamant about not setting standard procedures for Sunday collections. In 2001, Ryan presented his facts to the Holy See and received a reply parroting the U.S. bishops conference: that securing the collection comes under the competency of the local bishop (as opposed to Rome or the bishops conference). Ryan also states that he made several attempts to inform the Diocesan Financial Management Conference, an offshoot of the U.S. bishops conference, about the issue of collection thefts, the majority of which (according to case histories he collected) are perpetrated by members of the clergy.

But Ryan's communications went unanswered, leading him to conclude the Diocesan Financial Management Conference is just another rubberstamp organization. "Many of these guys are CPAs, but they bow to the will of the bishop, archbishop, or cardinal," Ryan said. "Those few who do take the time to reply almost invariably come back to me with meaningless pap about how they believe their present procedures are 'adequate.' And they'll say that even when there are no substantive procedures in place.

"The hierarchy refuses to acknowledge the problem exists," Ryan told me. "And if you deny the problem, you don't have to seek a solution."

Ryan suggested that parishioners observe what the ushers do at Mass at the end of their route. Do they put the money in a single, tamper-resistant sack, which is then closed and secured with a numbered, tamper-proof seal? If they do, then you can say that the collection might be secure. Ryan points out, though, that it doesn't mean anything if the other elements of his system are not implemented. Is the collection secure all throughout or just at one point of the process? Never in the process should a lone individual have access to the money, not even the pastor, before the money is counted and deposited. If anyone has such access, you can conclude that the collection is not secure. No security seals should be broken until at least three counters are present. If only two are present, and one has a sudden call of nature, or leaves the room to get a cup of coffee or answer the doorbell, Ryan argues, how hard would it be for the remaining counter to quickly pocket $100 or more?

Ryan admitted that the system requires time to implement and patience to operate. But he claims that the money spent on securing the collection is a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of money that will be saved by an unknown but significant number of parishes which are presently experiencing weekly losses they have yet to detect.

"It's a system, and has to be approached that way. We can't say, 'We can't implement that part of the system because so-and-so will be offended by the implication of mistrust.' There are pastors and others who will get their noses out of joint. 'You don't trust me?' they might complain. That's not the point. If a highly vulnerable Sunday collection presents a powerful temptation to steal, aren't we morally obliged to eliminate that temptation? Clearly, it is well within the hierarchy's power to do so."

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